William reichmajst



(No Model.).

W. REIGHMAN.

KNITTED GARMENT. No. 321,250. Patented June 30, 1885.

N, PETERS, PhvfmLilhngnphlr. Walhingtnn, D C.

NLIT'ED STATES \VILLIAM REIGHMAN,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

KNITTED GARMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'No. 321,250, dated June 30, 1885.

Application filed August 20, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RErcHMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Knitted Garments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in garments, such as Cardigan jackets 0113113410; gous articles of wearingapparel, as hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,ini which similar letters of referenceindicatelikci parts on each figure, Figure l represents one half side ofa Cardigan jacket made on a air cular-knitting machine, showing the usual manner of connecting the rear to the front portion thereof at the shoulder prior to my invention. Fig. 2 represents a Cardigan jacket made on a circular-knitting machine, illustrating the mode of connecting together the rear and front thereof at the shoulder according to my invention. Fig. 3 representsa view of the blank fabric in process of manufacture as a completed garment. Figs. 4 and 5 rep resent detail views of the neck and shoulder connections employed in carrying out my in- 3 5 joining together at the shoulder the front and rear, A and B, said seam b being usually a loop or chain stitch, generallyloosely meshed.

0 represents my improved knitted back neckband and shoulder connections, a being the portion to which the back of the collar is connected, 0 0 being the portions that bridge the shoulders, which, for convenience of description, I call herein shoulder-straps.

The gist of my invention is the employment of shoulder-straps c c, with or without intermediate piece, 0, made of yielding knitted fabric having fashioned edges substantially of the same character as that of which the main body of the garment is composed, said shoulder-straps 0 0 being inserted in place, as plainly shown in the drawings, between the edges a and I), thus dispensing with the scam I).

The object of my invention is to impart to the shoulder of garments of the character described the same degree of elasticity that pertains to all other parts thereof. If the seam b is formed by close stitchessuch as overcast threads, herring-bone, or the likeit is manii fest that between the points designated by arrows the connection, by means of said seam b,

will be rigid and unyielding, and while all other parts of the garment will stretch or give, (being elastic, as will be readily understood,) this particular portionto wit, the space included between the arrows-will not stretch or give, and the result will be the threads composing the scam I) will have a tendency to break, and the parts A and B will become separated at the shoulder. If the seam b is composed of chain or loop threads or like loose stitch, as soon as any portion thereof is drawn open, disengaged, or sundered, the whole of said seam will become unraveled, and the same result will follow. Besides the tension that such garments are subjected to when on the wearers body, on theliue indicated by the arrows, they are also always under severe strain from rear to front, in the direction illustrated by dotted lines x a; y y,

. and the thread of the seam b is easily opened or fractured by reason of the tension in direction of said dotted lines.

I will observe that it is very desirable that garments of the character described should be as elastic and yielding at the shoulder as upon any other portions, for this is the very point that, by movements of the body of the wearer, is subjected to constant pulling and tension; therefore the main object of my invention is to relieve the shoulders from rigid connections, thus overcoming the objectionable features common to this portion of such garments as usually made. The outer lines, 0', of the band C and the straps c,as also those (6 of the front A, and those I) of the back 13, are formed of what is known in the art to which my invention is allied as fast edges or fashioned edges-that is to say, edges that will not fray or ravel out; in other words, the fast edges 0', a, and b are respectively composed of continuously turned and returned portions of the threads of the fabric of which the parts A, B, and O are formed, as the case may be. Thus,when any of said fast edges are ICO scribed, in contradistinctiou to a seamed shoulder.

I will observe that it is entirely within the scope of my invention to make the strip 0 in one continuous piece,as shown in Fig. 4,having integral end shoulderst1aps,c c; or said straps may be in separate pieces, (see Fig. 5,) in which case the intermediate space, 0, will be dispensed with, and such shoulder-straps will be inserted in place, as shown in Fig. 6. I thus produce a garment of the character described havingits front and rear portions bodily connected together by means of the knitted shoulderstraps c, and without scam I), as has been thepractice prior to my invention in the manufacture of such garments with the circularknitting machine.

The benefit of making the integralshoulder will be manifest to the trade and all those familiar with the manufacture and sale of this class of articles of apparel.

In the drawings and description, for the purpose of plainly illustrating my invention, I have confined myself to a Cardigan jacket, so

that those skilled in the art to which it appertains may clearly understand it, but desire distinctly to be understood as not limiting myself to this special garment, as my invention is equally applicable to other articles, both for mens and womens wear.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, the within-described knitted garment, having its rear and front portions connected together at the shoulders by means of the inserted knitted shoulder-straps c 0, having fashioned edges, as and for the purposeintcnded, substantially as described.

2. In a knitted garment of the character described, the combination of the front and rear sides, A B, with the knitted neckband O, having a middle portion, 0, and integral end shoulder-straps, c c, all arranged as set forth and illustrated, as and for the purpose intended, substantially as described.

XVILLIAM REIOHMAN.

\Vitnesses:

S. VAN ZANDT, S. K. OSBORN. 

